This invention relates generally to a closed wound suction device and, more particularly, to a unique closed wound suction device having a uniquely designed valve system.
In post-operative surgical procedures, drains are used whenever an abnormal collection of fluid is encountered, be it contaminated or infected material, blood, bile or lymph, exudate or transudate. Ordinary wounds are normally drained for a post-operative period running as long as forty-eight hours. Effective drainage is of medical importance, for swelling and tension are minimized thereby, post-operative pain is reduced, and wound edges are maintained flat and quiescent.
A number of manually-operated wound suction devices are presently in use and, also, a large number of wound suction devices have been described and illustrated in issued United States patents and in other literature. Illustrative of the type of manually-operated wound suction devices within the field of the present invention are those illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,115,138 and 3,376,868.
All of the presently known commercial systems have the disadvantage that, whenever it is necessary to empty the fluid collection container, the drainage tubing must be removed from the container and replaced on the container after it has been emptied. This obvious disadvantage creates a serious problem of contamination in that the disconnected tubing is exposed to the environment and contaminants may thereby enter the system and ultimately find their way to the wound site of the patient and, thus, create infection and other post-operative problems.
In order to alleviate this problem, a number of valving systems have been proposed which include one-way valve mechanisms for preventing the back flow of material into the wound site when the containers are actuated to flush material therefrom. Two such devices are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,572,342 and 3,774,611. Both of these systems provide one-way valves in the inlet ports leading from the patient to the container and also additional outlets for the removal of fluid from the containers when it is desired to empty the containers. However, the previously known one-way inlet valves rely on differential pressure between the container and the wound tubing to open the valve to permit the fluid to drain into the container. This is considered to be undesirable in that the inlet valves may be subject to malfunction and, thus, a more positive actuating device for the inlet valve is desirable.